Biking for a Cause…

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As I think I’ve previously explained, Hubby moved from just helping with photography with our weekly community paper to being a photojournalist. He’s enjoying it and yesterday he attended an event at the Veterans for Foreign Wars (VFW) post where a check was presented to Rick Fit, a cyclist riding from New Orleans to Key West to Washington D.C., to raise awareness about homeless veterans. The full story will be in next week’s paper. The VFW held a Spaghetti Dinner on Sunday and raised a little over $1,000 for the cause.

Mr. Fit served in the Army for only a short while due to a medical condition that permanently disqualified him from continuing in service. As with certain other conditions, it did not preclude him from many types of employment or activities, yet was not compatible with the physical rigors of military requirements. He later became friends with veterans who suffered PTSD and became aware of the high correlation of PTSD and veteran homelessness. He lives in Louisiana and started looking into the issue more, and began to do things like create backpacks filled with items to distribute to homeless vets and help get them linked in with organizations that had resources available. After the premature death of one of the friends, both of whom spent time in Florida, Rick decided on this cycle venture. His original intent was to make it up to Philadelphia where the other friend lives. Others who support him in his efforts urged him to stop in Washington, D.C. to help add his voice and experiences to members of Congress and groups who are also engaged in veteran homeless actions. One of the things he mentioned to my husband during the interview is how giving people have been during this time in helping him make the journey.

Art Show Two Ways…..

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Many people reading this blog are already familiar with me being in Homestead Center for the Arts. If someone is new, our situation is we lost all our art galleries in the Real Estate Bust that started in 2008. We held onto a couple and then they relocated as well. We then partnered first with the Capri Restaurant and their Gallery Room to do exhibits about every three months, then one other restaurant which unfortunately didn’t survive the COVID-19 closures. There is also a City of Homestead Artist in the Spotlight program that uses the extensive wall space in the Seminole Theatre and our artists are often featured.

Anyway, our very talented volunteer Ellen Reese suggested we try Facebook Live for one Capri exhibit since we had not been able to hold receptions during COVID. It worked fairly well and even though we had our first in-person Meet the Artist reception Thursday (May 15th) for the exhibit, “Birds”, Ellen suggested we do another Facebook Live show 30 minutes before the in-person. Other than we didn’t appropriately take into account background noise as some people came early, it went well. We had three of our artists on camera and I gave a quick bit about each artist for the others. We would have had two more on camera, but a heavy rain storm blew through delaying them. They did arrive for the in-person portion so that was the most important thing. This format is allowing a greater reach, especially as we have a number of artists in Kendall and Miami and the drive down can be a real pain at times. I think we’ll maintain this and see if our reach continues to increase.

The two pieces shown here are Hubby’s photo of three white pelicans in the Everglades (we usually see only the brown ones), and a parrot by Ada Catala done in a technique of “piecing”. It is what it sounds like of doing a collage with tiny pieces of paper. Most of our artists have a page in our Gallery at https://homesteadcenterdorthearts.com

Two Pieces HCA “Birds”Exhibit at Capri Restaurant May 2021

Really Easy Flounder Dish……..

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No, I’m not fixated on flounder. As I mentioned in a previous post, our go-to grilling of fish simply doesn’t work with flounder and I worked out what may be the absolutely easiest way to cook it last night. The only thing is, this won’t work well for a single serving and it will only keep in the fridge for 2-3 days. Our Publix carries containers of lobster bisque in the seafood section. It serves two, although they are not large servings. It’s a nice creamy bisque, but not too thick and while the flavor is good, the pieces of actual lobster are few and small. However, it occurred to me I could use that to an advantage.

The frozen flounder fillets Hubby buys are three to a package; 12 ounces worth. Those will fit exactly into our large skillet. I took the fillets, and lightly sprinkled some seafood seasoning on both sides. We have an Everglades blend we like as well as a Cajun we keep on hand. Then it’s preheat the skillet on medium, empty the bisque into the skillet; add some white wine into the container to swish it around and get the last of the bisque. Pour into the skillet, stirring everything together with some grinds of fresh black pepper and watch carefully as it comes to a boil. As soon as it does, cut the heat to medium low and gently place the fish in the bisque. Spoon it over so the fish is covered. As soon as it bubbles again (like less than a minute), turn the heat to low, cover, and cook for five minutes. Check and cook another 2-3 minutes if it isn’t flaking yet. (I had to put foil on top since I don’t have a lid for this skillet). This isn’t true poaching, but has a similar effect. There will be extra bisque. I poured it up into two ramekins to have a side of bisque. Another option is plate the fish, put it in the oven, then turn the heat to medium and reduce the liquid, stirring frequently. This makes for a thicker sauce to top the fish and should take no more than 4-5 minutes.

Measuring Success……

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Musing content alert. I interact on some level every day with other authors on social media. Since highly commercially successful writers have no need to interact, the ones I am talking about are predominantly self-published or in the process of writing/have written and are striving to be traditionally published. Some have made a breakthrough to be either traditionally published or have adequate independent sales to be considered commercially successful. This can be where they may do multiple types of writing such as articles, etc., and/or a book. In this case, that means they make a profit on their writing, although it may not be adequate to be their only source of income. I’ve previously posted that while I continue to take steps to try and have a commercial breakthrough, I also understand that may never happen.

This leads me to the related point I’ve also previously discussed when it comes to how one measures success in one’s livelihood. I think many of us  know of a modest restaurant with someone who has been working there for 20+ years as a server. It’s not an easy job by any means, yet it is honest work. (For those who have traveled to Europe where it is an actual profession, that’s a post for another time.) Being a server in this country is generally considered as a starter or supplemental job, especially in college towns, New York City, and Los Angeles. In other situations though, it’s does become a career whether originally intended or not. Moving then into the trades – the theme here if you haven’t picked up on it is non-college careers. (I’m skipping retail for this post). Most trades can be learned adequately to be employed at the entry level in one or two years. Instruction combined with apprenticeship is common and often the best path when it is available. Barring going to work for a  bad company/bad boss, a business wants to retain good employees and there will be internal salary tiers as experience is gained. The reason you pay the hourly rate you do for electricians, etc., is precisely so those employees can be paid more while the necessary overhead costs and owner profit can be covered. Good employees may often also set up a sideline, freelance business to either supplement what they have or look to perhaps opening their own business some day. It’s true that blue collar work as an employee doesn’t usually result in six figure incomes. It is, however, a path that should be encouraged and supported if an individual shows inclination rather than being fixated on attending college.

 

Let’s Have A Little Heartwarming…..

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Of things Hollywood believes in, attempting to duplicate success is high on the list. The  huge popularity of Joanna and Chip Gaines in “Fixer Upper” led to a search for other “engaging couples who remodel houses”. While there are multiple remodeling shows with various combinations, “Home Time”, has Erin and Ben Napier in Laurel, MS. She is perky and petite and he is hefty with a beard. They are committed to helping revitalize their town and especially focus on older homes. Most are of course done for families and individuals and include a range of sizes and budgets.

Last year, HGTV made the decision to launch a major effort with Erin and Ben taking the lead role for a four-month program of “Home Town Takeover”. (hgtv home town takeover.com) They invited small towns (under 40,000) all across the country to apply to be selected to have 12 properties, a mix of residences and businesses, renovated to try and spur revival of a struggling area. Although the Napiers have the lead, numerous well-known other HGTV remodel personalities will come in to do some of the projects. There were 5,000 applicants and Wetumpka, Alabama, population: 8,278, was chosen. In the way that often happens, larger stores and services offered about twenty miles away continued to drain business from them. They worked out a plan for revitalization and were making progress when a tornado tore through destroying much of what they had accomplished.

The first episode aired last night of a historic house selected as was a young couple who has opened their home to foster boys alongside their two sons. A woman trying to make a go of her clothing story was the business chosen and until Erin and Ben appeared, none of them knew they were going to be helped. On a different project, a long expanse of wall at an entry point to the town is having a welcoming mural painted with the local high school art teacher in charge of some students. I’m not certain of how many episodes there will be, but it is a wonderful series if you enjoy this kind of show.

Making Those Ingredient Substitutions…..

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I’ve posted before about how we use leftovers to create different dishes than the original. With leftover pork we generally do either carnitas or pork with pasta, but last night we had a little bit of carne asada left and that’s so close to carnitas, I decided instead to have a bit of a sampler plate with simply reheating the carne asada and planning to slice the pork to have it in a green mole sauce. I’m always torn between red and green mole, and lean slightly more to the green. Mole is another of those dishes each restaurant tends to do slightly differently with the recipe handed down by families. Although I’m sure we have and can certainly get a recipe on-line I had no intention of making it from scratch. So, I went by the store to pick up a jar, thinking I had seen some there before. Apparently I was mistaken, or it could be I’d seen it at one of the local stores with a more extensive inventory. Since the week has been a bit jammed and I wasn’t in the mood to make an extra stop, I grabbed a can of green enchilada sauce instead. The only had mild, but we do have a jar of pickled jalapenos to solve that problem.

I also still had some lime-infused olive oil and used that to get a bit of a crust on the sliced pork before I added the sauce and jalapenos and set it to simmer for about thirty minutes. Even though the end result was not quite as good as with mole, it was still good and allowed us to use up the rest of the rice and re-fried beans in the fridge as well. Oh, and almost all the leftover grilled yellow squash as the other side.

Good T.H.U.G.S…….

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As I have mentioned on multiple occasions, writing for the community newspaper allows me to learn about people and organizations I would not necessarily come in contact with otherwise. In actuality, this is another case where I didn’t “meet” this group; Hubby did. I will branch off for a quick explanation. I’m a terrible photographer. There were times when photographs were especially important to a piece and the paper would pay Hugh to take them. On other occasions, it would be a photo-heavy piece such as Fourth of July celebration and they would have Hubby and a couple of the others do an array. A few years ago, I was out of town and there was an event where Hubby went alone and did up a short article. Then as they realized how much he enjoyed and understood racing, and the primary sports writer left, he stepped into the racing piece. Yesterday was what one might call a hybrid situation. I’ve been working the story of “National Rebuilding Day”, but things got really jammed for me. Hubby was always going to do the photos and he kindly agreed to capture the quotes as well. (We also had an event to cover last night, although that’s a different topic). Okay, having set the stage, here’s the thing.

Rebuilding Together, Miami Dade (RTMD), is the area chapter for the national organization. It’s similar to Habitat for Humanity except they repair and renovate other than build entire houses. The last Saturday of April is a nation-wide “blitz” day when as many chapters as can focus on multiple houses to complete projects. Professional contractors are used as required to do major work before and volunteers do finishing painting, landscaping, etc., Five houses were the focus yesterday and as the mayor and the lead people from RTMD went to each house Hubby took photos and talked to homeowners and volunteers. One group was from T.H.U.G.S. – True Heroes Under God’s Sovereignty. This is an organization that works with inner city youth in Miami with the express purpose to mentor boys and prepare them for a life without drugs, violence, and crime. The guy explained they work most closely with 8th and 11th graders to help them get onto the right path as they are entering and becoming seniors in high school. They stress vocational careers as well as college. They are a faith-based organization even though they don’t require the boys to be of the same – or any faith. They’re outside the area we cover for the paper, yet I always appreciate learning about these programs.

Taking A Step Back….

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Not political, but… Okay, I make it a point to try and not be political in my posts although there are times when social aspects come close to or straddle the line. I also try to acknowledge when I hold a particular view and then discover something that impacts that view one way or the other. In this case, it’s a pleasant impact.

I’ve never been a big fan of Starbucks coffee in the sense of their coffee or their prices. Back when they first became popular, our son was of the age that I did appreciate the fact they provided a gathering place for the 18-20 year olds who couldn’t go to bars, yet wanted that kind of social feeling. As they significantly expanded (and thus opened the way for similar places I like better), I genuinely felt they took the whole “inclusion” thing too far. Not so much in I didn’t agree with being more inclusive; it was the sense of them seeming to project being superior about it I didn’t care for. I only patronized them when someone specifically asked to meet there or they happened to be the only convenient coffee place.

My taking a step back came last week and yesterday as I was sent an email to cover a story for the paper about the latest store opening. It is designated as the first Starbucks Military Family Store in Homestead, only the sixth in all of Florida, but brings the national total to seventy-six. I had never heard of such. As it turns out, these stores are part of an initiative launched in 2013 of “Starbucks Military Hiring Commitment, which included the goal of hiring 10,000 veterans and military spouses which was raised to 25,000 and now aims to add 5,000 more such employees each year. Military Family Stores are located near bases and posts and are, ‘designed to reflect the local military community, creating a welcoming space for veterans, active-duty military and their families’.” (Full article will probably be in this week’s paper)

In speaking with the store manager yesterday, she’s been with the company for 23 years and in South Florida for 16. Her father-in-law, a Vietnam veteran spent 28 years in the Army. She is very excited about the program and 85% of the employees (they refer to them as partners) have a family connection to the military.

I will later send a letter or email to the company expressing my appreciation.

 

Another Memory Stirred….

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There was a discussion about hunting and guns and I was trying to remember when I first learned to shoot. We did have cap guns and BB guns, but of course those don’t count. Daddy had a .22 rifle and a shotgun. He only hunted small game; birds, rabbits, and squirrels. Well, he did accidentally shoot a racoon one time and I don’t recall if we liked the stew or not. Anyway, I went fishing with him sometimes, but not hunting and that was probably because he was pretty intermittent with when he went.

It seems reasonable he would have taught us to shoot although the most distinct time I recall was going to a range with my uncle and cousins. I was on the ROTC rifle team for like one semester and did attend a match. I was never more than an average shot. As I’ve mentioned before, I was an “inadvertent” pioneer in the Army based on coming in as the Women’s Army Corps was being transitioned out. My first two years it was optional for women to qualify with the M-16 and .45 pistol. I didn’t hesitate even though a couple of my classmates chose to not fire a weapon. In light of the fact I went into the Ordnance Corps and weapons repair from small arms to artillery was part of our mission, we did of course have to fire as well as learn to repair them. Now when I say, “repair”, what that actually meant for an officer was to get a fundamental lesson in breaking down the weapon to see the parts and learn the most ordinary kind of failures. That was for pistols through machine guns and yes, firing an M60 and a .50 cal was an interesting experience. I had some difficulty with the Light Anti-tank Weapon (LAW) because my hands are small and the hand strength required to hold and fire was designed for the average-size male.

Intriguing Art…….

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As I have mentioned, I’m heavily involved in the nonprofit Homestead Center for the Arts. We have up to 30 artists and they are in a range of amateur to professional and work in different mediums. A couple are former art teachers and one artist took up painting because her mother was adamant she quit smoking and she was looking for something to substitute. Anyway, a little over a year ago, a couple moved here for the husband half to take a job with the Florida City government. (Florida City adjoins Homestead and is the last municipality before reaching the Keys). Terre Rybovich was an established artist in West Palm Beach and they had quite a bit to relocate not to mention her losing her studio. She’s shown all over Florida, in NY, and overseas. She hoped there would be available space to rent, but we lost that capability several years ago when we lost the last art gallery. With their decision to buy and remodel a home in Redland, they only recently became fairly settled.

One of the aspects of restoring the Seminole Theatre was to dedicate its considerable wall space to the Artist in the Spotlight program. Although the program is run by the City, HCA artists are frequently featured and the exhibits change about every two months. Terre was scheduled for last March when everything was shut down. So, she’s the first artist to re-start the program. She and her husband described her unique art and the fact it’s really big, but I didn’t honestly understand until I helped them hang the exhibit last week. In essence, she takes a huge canvas, covers it with charcoal, and applies part or all of her body. She then decides what part to leave or add and often also adds a bird to inject some color. Here’s a link to her website to get a better understanding. (https://www.terrerybovich.com)